


age with grace

by crimsonxflowers



Series: there's a hole in my soul (can you fill it?) [1]
Category: Boardwalk Empire
Genre: Alternate Universe - Daemons, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-01
Updated: 2017-06-01
Packaged: 2018-11-07 11:57:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11058456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsonxflowers/pseuds/crimsonxflowers
Summary: Atarah settles the day Meyer, Jake, and their mother arrive in New York. (Daemon AU, Meyer-centric)





	age with grace

**Author's Note:**

> SO HERE IT IS, THE BABY GANGSTER DAEMON AU FIC. i have a few more installments in the series written already, and i'm planning on writing more until i lose whatever writing bug has gotten into me lately, but for now, uh. have this thing.
> 
> list of daemons (names and species) are down in the endnotes, if you want the mental image before you read! i have [a whole tag for this au](http://meyerlansky.tumblr.com/tagged/daemon+au) over on my tumblr, as well as a writeup explaining the basics of how daemons work [here](http://meyerlansky.tumblr.com/post/127967825056/what-are-uhmdaemons-i-discovered-the-daemon), though fair warning that the overall tag contains daemon spoilers for characters who haven't been introduced/aren't settled at the point that this fic takes place, so caveat lector etc

Atarah settles the day Meyer, Jake, and their mother arrive in New York.

She's perched on his shoulder, huddled against the threadbare collar of his coat as his mother guides them through the strict lines at Ellis Island, Vilkal a comforting presence at her side. The ram’s not big enough to cause _real_ problems maneuvering through the thin causeways, though he's intimidating enough to make any salacious types think twice about targeting them, but their progress is slow thanks to nerves and unfamiliarity anyway. Iriliya is curled up in Jake’s palms, held tight to his chest, following Atarah’s lead and staying as something small until they're out in the not-so-fresh air of Manhattan. She ripples and shifts from mouse to sparrow as soon as she’s able, flitting around above Jake’s head to burn off some of the nervous energy they're both feeling.

Their mother looks down at Meyer, brushes a hand through his hair, careful to avoid Atarah where she's still bundled as a wiry catlike smudge of fur and claws clinging to the coat’s fabric for balance. “We’re here, Meyer, if Atarah wants to stretch a bit.”

“I know I would,” Vilkal rumbles from Yetta’s side, and she spares him a smile before turning back to Meyer, looking up at her so solemnly as he shakes his head.

“We’re fine, Mama,” he says quietly, reaching up to card fingertips through his daemon’s fur. She smiles again, a little wobbly, so once he’s sure Atarah’s secure against his collar, Meyer reaches for her hand. “Where are we going?”

* * *

 The answer, it turns out, is “Brooklyn.” More specifically, to the apartment their father has ready for the four of them _in_ Brooklyn. As soon as he opens the door Max sweeps Yetta up in a hug that looks almost painful, from Meyer’s perspective, but Mama looks happy despite the tears in her eyes so he leaves it alone. Vilkal and Inessa, Max’s hare daemon, are wrapped up in each other almost immediately as well, which has Atarah burrowing into Meyer’s coat even further, a little embarrassed at the display. He pulls his hand further into his sleeve, so she can press her face against his palm—it's reassuring for them both to feel the other so close, after night after night of the ship pitching and the fear of rolling too far away from each other or losing one another in the dark. Meyer tries not to think about it too much. Not now. He's supposed to be happy, hugging his parents and listening to Papa say how happy he is to have them all back together.

Mostly they're just tired.

Jake’s knuckling at his eyes too, and Iriliya’s already curled up as a puppy in his lap, barely able to keep her eyes open. Meyer hides a yawn behind his fist, and Atarah finally wriggles out of his coat to curl up on the couch cushion next to him. Before she gets too comfortable, though, Vilkal calls her name, and she ambles tiredly over to the edge of the couch where he and Inessa are huddled on the floor in front of it.

“Atarah, have you settled?” Vilkal says, his low voice gentle and reassuring. Inessa, though, her ears perk up, and she blurts “Already? But they're so young,” which makes Atarah and Meyer both sit up a little straighter. So what if they're young? They're older than Jake, anyway, they're not _that_ childish.

“Maybe,” Atarah murmurs in response, cagey and defensive after that, and Meyer wants to reach out and pull her back to him, but he can feel Mama and Papa watching, their own quiet conversation ground to a halt thanks to Inessa’s exclamation. Instead, he looks over at Jake, whose head is dipping further and further against his chest as the seconds tick by.

“Mama, Jake’s really tired. Can we go to sleep?” He says it as firmly as he can manage, and Atarah takes the opportunity to inch backwards into his arms again. The worry on Mama’s face clears a little bit as she nods, and she holds out a hand to walk him to their bedroom while Papa scoops Jake up, Iriliya balancing carefully on Jake’s middle.

After they're all tucked in and Mama’s left them both with a kiss on the forehead as usual, Meyer curls up on his side, Atarah a fuzzy ball on the pillow next to him. She wiggles around for a bit, uncomfortable and anxious, before she asks, “it's not bad if I settled, is it?”

She's not even done speaking before Meyer’s shaking his head. “Nuh uh, you can be settled if you want.”

“But everyone always says it's so boring being settled. And I'm _tiny_ ,” she huffs, and Meyer doesn't laugh a whole lot, but that gets an amused huff out of him.

“So’m I, ‘Tar. We’ll grow,” he says quietly, repeating what his mother’s said to them over and over. He’s not sure it’s true, and they’ll handle it if it’s not, but it seems like the reassuring thing to say. “‘Sides, it's easier hiding when you're tiny, remember?” He presses his face against her spine, not thinking about things they've hid from before. That's not supposed to happen here, Mama said. They won't need to hide here. Mama said.

“But we can if we have to,” Atarah whispers, and Meyer nods against her fur. That seems good enough for her, and she curls up again, ready to go to sleep. “Maybe I'm not, even. ‘M really tired, I don’t wanna change now.” She snuffles against the pillow, words getting even muzzier as she shuts her eyes. “Maybe I'll be a bird tomorrow, like Ril today. Or a _bug_.”

Meyer snickers, and that's the last he remembers before the day catches up with him and he actually falls asleep.

But Atarah’s still a marten when they wake up the next day.

The day after that, too.

**Author's Note:**

> for reference:  
> meyer's daemon, atarah, is a [beech marten](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beech_marten)  
> jake's daemon, iliriya, is unsettled  
> yetta's daemon, vilkal, is a [mouflon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mouflon)  
> max's daemon, inessa, is a [cape hare](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_hare)
> 
> come talk to me about baby gangsters on [tumblr](http://meyerlansky.tumblr.com)!


End file.
